Odometer resetting mechanism



Sept. '15, 1953 F. E. MlNER. ETAL 2,652,199

ODOMETER RESETTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 6, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet. 1

.F I 5'. 3. I

.Ezr/enfora: 1 7030? Efizfner Edward C flu raci Sept. 15, 1953 F. E. MINER ET A1.

ODOMETER RESETTING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 6, 1949 .Ezz/enfors: Floyd 15'. .fllz'ner Edward 6'. .flurlacfi M145,

Sept. 15, 1953 F. E. MINER ETAL 2,652,199

ODOMETER RESETTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 6, 1949 4 sheets-sneak Ina/anions: Floyd lL/(z'rzer Edward C: fluracfi v Sept. 15, 1953 F. E. MINER ET AL 2,652,199

ODOMETER RESETTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 6, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I fn'l/ntars/ Floyd if 121g Edward 6: .1114? d071, MM ,xmmmm/ Wm JiZrneys Patented Sept. 15, 1953 ODOMETER RESETTING MECHANISM Floyd E. Miner, Lombard, and Edward C. Murbach, Chicago, 111., assignors to Stewart-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Virginia Application October 6, 1949, Serial-No. 119,929

1 Claim. 1

Our invention relates generally to odometers and more particularly to improved driving, transferring and resetting means for odometers and counters.

In odometers of the type used as mileage indicators in conjunction with automotive speedometers, the transferring and resetting mechanisms occasionally proved unreliable, the mechanisms became jammed, and for other reasons failed to function properly after a period of use.

It is, therefore, the primary object of our invention to provide an improved odometer of simplified construction wherein the transferring and resetting mechanisms will operate reliably at any speed at which the odometer may be operated, which may be economically manufactured, and which has a useful life longer than that of the vehicle upon which it is mounted.

Other objects will appear from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view, in. slightly enlarged scale, of a combined speedometer and odometer, portions thereof being shown in fragmentary section;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a greatly enlarged transverse sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged scale elevational view of a reset clutch member;

Figs. 9 and 10 are sectional views of the clutch member taken on the line 9-9 and I 0-10, respectively, of Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a diametrical sectional view of one of the numeral Wheels; and

I Figs. 12. and 13 are left and right side elevational views of the numeral wheel shown in Fig. 11.

As best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the combined speedometer and odometer assembly comprises a frame including a U-shaped bracket 20, the ends of the legs of which are secured together by a cross member 22. The assembly is driven from a part, the speed and the number of revolutions of which are to be indicated, through a shaft, usually of the flexible type, connected to a coupling 26. This coupling is connected to drive a permanent magnet contained within a housing,

28 and thereby impart a rotational torque to a drag cup 30 secured to a shaft 32, the latter being biased. to rotate, in a direction opposite to that in which the cup 30 is driven, by a hair. spring 34 (Fig. 3), one end of which is secured to the shaft and the other end of which is anchored to the cross member 22. The rotation of the shaft 32 under the influence of the spring 34 is limited by a pin 36 (Fig. 1), fixed to the drive cup 30, which engages with the zero stop pin 38 when the shaft 32 has been rotated to its zero position by the spring 34.

Across shaft 40, the ends of which bear. in the.

U-shaped frame bracket 20, has a Worm drive connection with the shaft coupling 26 and has a worm 42 secured thereto, or cut therefrom, this worm meshing with a worm gear 44 formed on a shaft 46, the ends of which have bearings in the frame 20 and crosspiece 22, respectively. The shaft 46 has a worm 48 formed thereon meshing with pinions 50 and 51, the pinion 50 forming part of the cumulative odometer or mileage indicator 52 for driving the latter, and the pinion 5| being an idler which meshes with a gear 54 forming part of a resettable trip mileage odometer 5B. The idler pinion 5| is suitably mounted for rotation upon stud 58 riveted to the frame 20. The trip mileage odometer 56 comprises a plurality of numeral or register wheels and it is illustrated as comprising a tenths numeral wheel 61, a unit wheel 62, tens wheel 63, and a hundreds wheel 64. The numeral wheels 6|-64 are mounted upon a shaft 66, one-end of which projects through a bearing hole 68 formed in one leg of the frame bracket 20, and the other end of which is seated in a notch 10 of the other leg of the frame bracket 20, being held therein by a suitably bent wire spring 12 which is wound about the cross member 22. The shaft 66 is mounted for limited longitudinal sliding movement in its bearings 68 and 10, the shaft being held in its leftmost position (Figs. 1 and 3') by a coil spring 14 compressed between the gear 54, which is fixed to the shaft 66, and the adjacent wall of the frame bracket 20. The gear 54 has a frusto-conically surfaced hub part 18 which is adapted to be engaged by the pointed end of a reset shaft 82. This reset shaft is provided.

' with a suitably striated knob portion 84 and is mounted for rotary and longitudinal sliding movement in a U-shaped stamped bearing part 86 which may be welded to one of the legs of the frame bracket 20. This reset shaft 82 has a pinion 88 secured thereto, as by staking, this pinion being adapted to mesh with the gear 54 (as shown in Fig. 1) when the reset shaft 82 is moved axially inwardly against the force applied by a coil spring 90, one end of which abuts against a part of the bearing bracket 86, and the other end of which has its end turn positioned in an annular groove 92 formed in the reset shaft 82, As will be apparent from the following description, when the odometer numeral wheels 6I--64 are to be reset to zero, the reset shaft 84 is pushed inwardly (to the position shown in Fig. 1), causing the conical point 80 thereof to engage the frusto-conical surface 18 and thereby cam the shaft 66 and all parts carried thereby to the right (Figs. 1 and 3) against the force of the compression coil spring I4, thereby disengaging the gear 54 from the idler pinion 5 I, as shown in Fig. 3, and thus permitting the shaft 66 to be rotated in a direction opposite to that at which it is driven by the pinion 5|, to reset the mileage or trip odometer 56 to zero position, all as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The shaft 85 has a keyway groove 94 extendin the full length thereof. The tenths numeral wheel BI has an opening conforming to that of the shape of the shaft 66 so that it is keyed to and rotates with the shaft 66. The remaining numeral wheels 62, 63 and 64 have cylindrical bores for the reception of the shaft 66 and are thus free to rotate relative thereto.

The tenths numeral wheel 6! has a hub 96 and is prevented from movement toward the right (Fig. 4) by a washer or collar 98 having a tight press fit on the shaft 66. The other numeral wheels 62, 63 and 8-4 have sidewardly extending hub parts I00 which bear upon the shaft 66. Each of the numeral wheels has an internal twenty-tooth gear I62 formed at it right-hand side (Fig. 4) and at its left side, a single tooth I04 projecting inwardly from the peripheral flange portion I06 thereof. The single teeth H24 of the numeral wheels 6!, 62 and 63, respectively, rotate in the paths of transfer pinions I08, of brass or the like, and these pinions I08 mesh, respectively, with the twenty-tooth internal gears I02 of the numeral wheels 62, 63 and 64.

As best shown in Figs. 6 and '7, each of the transfer pinions I08 is formed integrally with hearing parts Illl which extend through bearing openings formed in a supporting frame II2. Each of the frames H2 comprises a disc-like element I I4 having notched ears II6, a central hole H8, and a smaller disc I20 which is preferably spot welded to the disc H4. The discs H4 and I20 have offset bridge parts E22 and I23, respectively, in which the bearing holes for the pinion parts H8 are formed. These bridge parts I22 and I23 form supports and guides for the pinion carried thereby, it being noted that the disc II4 has arcuate notches I24 and I25 formed therein, while the disc I20 has an arouate notch I26 formed therein, the arcs I25 and 128 being of substantially the same shape. The disc II4 has a hole I28 which is brought into registry with a notch I29 in the disc I20 properly to align the discs during the welding operation.

The disc I20 has a generally centrally located offset part I36 which, with the adjacent portion of the disc II4, forms an enclosure for a generally V-shaped wire spring I32 of bronze or similar material. The two extreme end portions I33 of the spring I32 are straight and engage the teeth of the pinion I08 so as to function as a detent for the pinion, normally holding it in the position shown in Fig. 6, wherein two of the teeth of the pinion project through the space provided by the slot I24 and are thus in position to be engaged by the single tooth I04 of the adjacent lower order numeral wheel. These teeth of the pinion I08 are also in meshing engagement with the teeth of the internal gear I02 of the adjacent higher order numeral wheel, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

The notched ears II6 of the pinion supporting frames II2 engage the cross member 22 and the frames are thus held against rotary motion.

The hubs of the numeral wheels 62, 63 and 64 are each provided with an irregularly shaped groove I40 (Fig. 5) which is circular except for a cusp-like indentation I42. A ball clutch retainer I44 is nonrotatably mounted on the shaft 66, having a part thereof fitting in the keyway groove 94 of the shaft, and, as best shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, this retainer has a groove I46 formed in the side thereof which faces the groove I40 of the adjacent numeral wheel. The groove I46 extends arcuately through an angle of approximately 150" and, together with the groove I40, forms a partial enclosure for a clutch ball I48. One end of the groove I46 is of increased width to provide a recess I50, this recess extending inwardly toward the center of the shaft 66 a suflicient distance that the ball I48 may be forced into the recess by the cusp-like projection I42, and permit the projection to pass' the ball when the numeral wheel is rotated counterclockwise (as viewed in Fig. 8) with respect to the adjacent ball clutch member I44, as indicated in phantom lines.

The numeral wheels 6I64 are held against longitudinal movementon the shaft and in assembled relation with their intermediate pinion supporting frames I I2 between the collar 88 and a collar I54 which has a press fit on the shaft 66.

In operation, the rotation of the coupler 26, by which the speedometer and odometer assembly is driven, is transmitted through the shaft 40, worm 42, worm wheel 44, shaft 46, and worm 48, thus to drive the gear 50 of the cumulative odometer 52, and through the idler pinion 5|, to drive the gear 54 of the trip odometer 56. The gear 54 is nonrotatable with respect to the shaft 66, as is the tenths numeral wheel 6|, so that the latter is positively driven through the described gear train from the shaft coupling 26. As the numeral wheel 6| rotates from its 9 to its 0 registering position, its single tooth I04 engages between the teeth of the adjacent pinion I08 and rotates the latter through the pitch distance of two teeth. Since the pinion I08 has six teeth, it will thus be rotated through an angle of The pinion I08 being in mesh with the twenty-tooth internal gear I02 of the units numeral wheel 62, the latter will be rotated through an angle of twice its tooth pitch, namely, 36, thus causing it to show the next higher digit through the usual sight window (not shown). A transfer is effected in a similar manner from the units wheel 62 to tens wheel 63 as the units wheel 62 rotates from its 9 to its 0 position; and similarly a transfer of a unit is effected from the tens numeral wheel 63 to the hundreds numeral wheel 64 as the wheel 63 moves from its 9 to its 0 registry position. The odometer thus operates to indicate the total number of revolutions of the shaft 66, the calibration being customarily in miles traveled.

During the time that the odometer 56 is being driven by the vehicle in the manner above described, the shaft 66 is rotating counterclockwise,

as viewed in Fig. 5. The lowest order numeral wheel 6| rotates counterclockwise with the shaft and the higher order wheels 62-454 rotate counterclockwise intermittently as they are advanced step by step. The ball retainers I44, rotating with the shaft I66, pick up the balls I48 and carry them along, in or adjacent the recesses I50. The balls, carried by the retainers, pass free freely over the cusp-shaped projections I42 on the numeral wheels, since the projections cam the balls radially into the recesses and the latter provide radial clearance between the projections and the retainers I44.

When it is desired to reset the numeral wheels 6I64 to 0000 registering position, the reset shaft knob 84 is grasped and pushed inwardly against the force of the spring 90, such inward movement causing engagement of the pointed end portion 80 of this shaft with the frusto-conical surface 18 of the hub of the gear 54, thus forcing the latter to slide to the right (Fig. 1), together with its shaft 06, against the force of the compression coil spring I4. Such inward movement of the reset shaft 82 also causes its gear 88 to mesh with the gear 54. The operator then rotates the shaft 82 clockwise (in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1) and thereby rotates the shaft 66 clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5. As the ball clutch retainers I44, are thus rotated clockwise with the shaft 66, the end walls I60 of their grooves I46 engage the clutch balls I48 and carry the latter with them until the balls I48 engage the projections I42 of the adjacent numeral wheels. When this occurs, a positive driving connection is established between the shaft 66 and the numeral wheels 62, 63 and 84 so that the latter are carried with the numeral wheel 6|. Since all of the ball retainers I44 are keyed to the shaft 66, and these parts are identical, it will be clear that upon resetting rotation of the shaft the numeral wheels will be successively picked up in such positions that eventually all of their numeral indicia will be in alignment. The operator thus continues to rotate the reset shaft 82 until the 0 registrations of all of the numeral wheels appear through the sight openings. The trip mileage odometer is thus reset to 0000 position.

The transfer mechanism of the counter is extremely simple in construction and its manufacturing cost is low. The numeral wheels are preferably die-castings with the numeral indicia enameled thereon and the transfer pinions may be produced from pinion rod stock by automatic screw machines. The pinion supporting frame is composed of two simple sheet metal stampings which when spot-welded together form a permanent compact subassembly providing the support for the transfer pinion and its detent spring. The assembly of the odometer or counter is very easily accomplished. The cost of production of the odometer is, therefore, very low while at the same time its operation and durability are improved.

While we have shown and described a particular embodiment of our invention it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous variations and modifications thereof may be made Without departing from the underlying principles of the invention.

We claim:

In' a counter assembly having a plurality of numeral wheels mounted upon a shaft for rotation relative thereto, the combination of means on each of the numeral wheels providing a groove extending throughout substantially 360 and having a single radial inwardly extending projection, a clutch member secured to the shaft adjacent each wheel and having a groove extending somewhat less than 180, said groove having an enlargement formed at one end thereof, the grooves being confrontingly positioned to form a ball race, a ball located within the race formed by the grooves in the numeral wheel and in the clutch member, said groove on the clutch member having a recess of sufiicient size that the ball may be forced thereinto by the projection on the numeral wheel during relative rotation of the wheel and the clutch member in one direction so as to permit the free relative rotation of the numeral wheel and the clutch member in said direction, said ball being engageable by' the projection and forming a positive driving connection between the clutch member and the numeral wheel upon relative movement thereof in the opposite direction.

FLOYD E. MINER. EDWARD C. MURBACI-I.

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